Day 12: National Monuments in Nebraska

Another North American Road Trip

Day 12

Tuesday, June 30th

I woke up cold around 3AM. But I didn’t realize I was cold until I was fully awake when I visited the restroom at 4AM and felt the heat coming out of the heater in there. My feet and nose were persistently cold. I put on all the layers of clothes I had and dozed on and off. 

We opted for a Starbucks breakfast. We broke camp and drive five miles to a Starbucks. We each chose a hot breakfast sandwich (ham and cheese croissants for the boys) and had a hot chocolate to go with it. Boy that tasted good. 

Before we were very far down the road the temperature had risen about 20 degrees and we were shedding our warm layers. We found a Costco to gas up the cruck. 

We kept driving down the road spotting pronghorn through the grasslands. Bryan had also spotted three elk right near the road, so that was fun. 

We arrived a few hours later at Scott’s Bluff National Monument, which Desmond and Bryan recognized from the Oregon Trail game. It was a good stop. Desmond got his 52nd Junior Ranger badge.  

Shortly after that we stopped at a Qdoba for lunch. It has been a loooong time since any of us had eaten there. We walked in and it definitely had a “I can’t believe it’s not Chipotle” feel. The food was good. Not as spicy as Chipotle, and with a slightly n ore Tex-mex flavor, I thought. 

From there, we drove 45 minutes or so to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This exhibit was really cool with so many bones from prehistoric creatures. We watched another video that answered questions we had after viewing the exhibits, and Desmond did activities to earn his  53rd Junior Ranger badge.

At this point we aimed the GPS toward Wind Cave where we will be camping tonight. 

Just before we got to the park we stopped at Two Cows Creamery for a cold treat.  We mostly thought this was funny because in Ridgefield there is a place called 8 Cows Creamery.  I would have to say that this place was, as mathematically predicted, about 1/4 as good. 

As we drove into Wind cave National Park, we saw prairie dogs. We are approaching the park from a different side than we did last time, so we were keeping our eyes out for buffalo and elk. But what we saw were prairie dogs. 

We visited the Wind Cave Visitor Center, grateful it was open after 5PM. We tried to take a little walk, but it wasn’t clear how to get back up to the parking lot if the door were to become locked (the path was far below the parking lot) and it was beginning to look like rain, so we gave up on it. 

We drove from there the short distance to Elk Mountain Campground. We stayed in the exact same campsite as we did two years ago, because it amused us. It is grassy and mostly open, but there are a few trees between us and the restroom. 

It was, for the first time in quite a while on this trip, a pleasant temperature to just sit outside. So after dinner we did just that. Desmond used wood a kind gentleman had given him to build a fire. We sat by it and happily stuck stickers into our national parks passport book. 

Tired, I headed to bed as Desmond doused the fire. Bryan and Desmond went off to hear the ranger talk that started at 9PM. Around 9:15, Thunder and lightning started up. 

They tell me the ranger talk was good. The ranger was a little newer than Ranger Bob had been, but had good information about walk up tours being available even when the tours you can book ahead are all sold out. So we may get to do more than one tour tomorrow at Wind Cave, or even do a tour at Jewel Cave. 

Thanks for following along with us!